Most contemporary homes have an automatic dishwasher that is installed beneath a counter surface in the home""s kitchen in place of a storage cabinet. With such a dishwasher arrangement, dishes must be removed from the eating table and carried to the dishwasher to be washed. Frequently, similar types of dishes, e.g. dinner plate, salad bowl, etc., are used for many meals. After the dishes are washed, and before a subsequent meal is eaten, the dishes must be moved again to the table. In this arrangement, not only does the dishwasher occupy kitchen space that could otherwise be used for storage but also one must move the dishes back and forth between the counter and the table.
In some homes, a dishwasher is portable, that is, not installed at all, but moveable about the kitchen floor. A portable dishwasher solves the storage space drawback of the built-in dishwasher noted above, but it occupies extra and much desired additional floor space. If the portable dishwasher is located near the kitchen sink, it again requires transporting the dishes to and from the table for washing. If the portable dishwasher is located near the table, then a power cord, a water line, and a waste line need to traverse from a wall source across the kitchen floor, which acts to further reduce desired kitchen space.
It is also known to position a dishwasher beneath the dining surface of a table in the kitchen, thus overcoming all the obstacles of the conventional built-in as well as portable dishwashers as discussed above. The typical dining table covers an open area of unused space. The dining table is, by definition, the venue for eating. Placing a dishwasher device under a dining table avoids the need to transport the dishes to and from the table, allows more space beneath the kitchen counter for storage, and does not require electric and water lines to traverse the kitchen floor, since they can be routed directly from below the table.
In addition to the benefits derived from a dishwasher that is built into a dining table as noted above, such an arrangement is of particular benefit to physically handicapped and elderly persons who have more than average difficulty with the task of moving dishes between a table and a dishwasher.
A washing apparatus built into a dining table is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,952,568 to Schapp et al., issued Mar. 27, 1934, for a xe2x80x9cConvertible Dishwashing Dinner Tablexe2x80x9d. The Schapp et al. disclosure includes a series of eating trays that mount into the surface of the table. The trays may be formed with cavities to receive food. The user attaches utensils and dishes to clips on the trays and inverts the tray so that its eating surface faces down for being washed. The non-eating surface does not get washed.
A further washing apparatus in a dining table is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,426 to Townsend, issued Feb. 16, 1957, for a xe2x80x9cTable Having Reversible Tray Mounted Therein And Means For Washing The Samexe2x80x9d. The Townsend table incorporates trays into its top surface. The trays are moveable from an eating position to a washing position by rotating around a mounting shaft. Again, only the eating surface is subject to being washed.
An additional combination dining table and dishwashing apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,519 to Willson, issued Feb. 14, 1961, entitled xe2x80x9cCombined Dining Table And Dishwasherxe2x80x9d. The apparatus of Willson provides a dish and utensil compartment within a storage base of the table. A dishwashing unit operates to wash the dishes that are placed on holders in the compartment. The Willson patent does not incorporate a tray component.
A still further combination dishwasher and dining table is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,752 to Boylan, issued Nov. 18, 1997, entitled xe2x80x9cDining Table Having Integral Dishwasherxe2x80x9d. The device of the Boylan patent has a washing basin with a vertically shiftable rack assembly for carrying dishes. A shifting mechanism is coupled with the rack assembly for shifting the rack between a position below the tabletop to a position above the tabletop. A lid is carried up and down with the rack by the shifting mechanism. However, the apparatus described in the Boylan patent appears to open up the undesired possibility of discharging water onto the tabletop if opened at the wrong time and also lacks a necessary eating tray.
The combination dining table-dishwasher apparatus of the type described in Applicant""s prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,537, issued Apr. 30, 2002 entitled xe2x80x9cDining Table With Integral Dishwasherxe2x80x9d, has brought about numerous improvements over the prior art described above. The combination dining table suitable for use by either one or two persons and with an integral dishwasher apparatus for each as illustrated in the ""537 patent incorporates hinged-together pairs of inner and outer access covers over a dishwasher. In a first position, each pair of access covers are stored one above the other and an eating tray used for dining is loosely mounted above the stored access covers. In a second position, the hinged-together pair of inner and outer access covers are positioned over the dishwasher in a coplanar relation and form a surface, which in lieu of using the dining tray can be used for dining or as a work surface in the mentioned first position.
With the above as background, Applicant has discovered, through use of the ""537 patent apparatus, a need to improve: a) the smoothness of the dining/work surfaces established by the inner and outer access covers when in place over the dishwasher apparatus; b) the mechanism used to support and position the inner and outer access cover; and c) the ease of operation of such mechanism.
Thus, the principal object of the present invention as distinct from the prior invention described in the ""537 patent is to provide a relatively smooth dining/work surface when its access covers are in a closed position so as to provide a more easily cleaned dining/work surface and therefore a more sanitary surface when the inner and outer access covers are in a closed position over the dishwasher apparatus.
Another object of the present invention, is to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that is easy to open, close and operate by those with physical problems, e.g. arthritis of the hands and/or fingers.
Objects of the prior invention as recited in Applicant""s prior ""537 patent also become objects of the present invention.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that is more aesthetically pleasing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that is very economical to manufacture.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent through the disclosure of the invention to follow.
The present invention incorporates many of the desirable features of the combination dining table-dishwasher apparatus described in applicant""s previously issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,537. The present invention provides a dining table, whose inner and outer access covers can be positioned so as to establish a top surface that is substantially free of any obstructions and is most useful as a food preparation surface as well as a surface upon which to eat. The invention apparatus incorporates at each dining location a pair of two-piece, inner and outer access cover structures, which are easily openable and when open give access to an eating tray and eating utensils and dishes stored within the combined dining table and integral dishwasher cabinet structure. Each inner and outer access cover operates independent of the other through a novel hinge arrangement for the inner access cover and a novel release locking arrangement and mechanism for the outer access cover. The release mechanism allows the outer one of each pair of access cover members to move from an uppermost position to a lowermost position. When the outer access cover reaches this lowermost position it causes the other inner access cover member to be tilted upward slightly. The user can then easily grasp the tilted inner cover member and move it into its open position at which time the locking mechanism maintains both cover members in an open position and allows an eating tray to be withdrawn from within the dishwasher cabinet structure. After eating, the dishes and utensils are placed within a dishwashing chute within the integral dishwasher cabinet structure, the eating tray is moved back into the dishwashing apparatus, and the locking mechanism is released, which allows each of the access cover members to move from its respective open position to its respective closed position and so as to permit the dishwasher mechanism to be activated for washing the tray, dishes and utensils stored therein.